


Comforts

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [346]
Category: Thunderbirds
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 10:34:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8529742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: Something with Virgil being a big bro to Alan, maybe after a rescue went bad for Alan?





	

 

Once upon a time, Virgil would have been able to sniff Alan out in under a minute.  When his littlest brother was upset, or ashamed, or angry, he’d hide out in his room, under a blanket if it was cold, or sprawled out under the window, looking up out at the sky if it was warm.

But Alan’s not in his room, or in the family room, or on the pool deck, or any of the other places Virgil checked.

He finally found Alan, still in his uniform, his legs dangling off the gantry to the skyhook anchor.  It hits Virgil how tall Alan’s getting, the way he’s draped against the railing emphasizing the length of his legs, the emerging breadth of his shoulders.

Alan looked like a man right up until he lifted his head, and Virgil saw the tear stains on his cheeks.

Virgil moved slowly, slipping down to sit next to Alan.  Below them, Brains’ automated systems were repairing the damage, returning Three to launch readiness.

The ship was going to be fine; the pilot was a different story.

“Don’t,” Alan said, his voice cracking slightly.  “I’ve already had Scott’s speech.   _Sometimes the bear gets you_ ,” he added, doing a passable impression of Scott’s voice.

Virgil’s had that speech, they all have.

Scott’s not wrong though; sometimes it’s fate or karma, or just the relentless slide of the universe towards entropy, but whatever it was, it meant that sometimes their best efforts will still leave them looking at bodybags.

Alan sniffed quietly, and nothing could have stopped Virgil from reaching out, tucking Alan under his arm as best he could now.  “Life sucks,” Virgil murmured down onto the top of Alan’s head.  “But we have to keep trying.”

“I did try,” Alan protested, burying his face into the soft plaid of Virgil’s shirt.  “I tried everything, and she still died.”

Virgil nodded.  “This time.  And next time, you’ll try everything, and it will _work_.  Or it won’t.  But we keep trying.”

They sat there for a long time.  “She reached out,” Alan admitted finally.  “I nearly got her.”

Virgil breathed slowly, in and out.  Those were the worst, when you saw on their faces the moment they realized that rescue wasn’t going to make it.  He curled his other arm around, stroking Alan’s hair, just like he used to do with Alan was tiny and fragile and wanted to be where his brothers were.  “It hurts, I know.  I’m sorry, Allie.”

Alan’s nod is tiny, a twitch Virgil could barely feel.  “Yeah.  But we’ll try again tomorrow, right?”

“Right.”

But Alan made no move to pull away, and Virgil kept stroking his arm as, below them, the robots pulled away from a gleaming Three, ready once again to go try and save the world.


End file.
